ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A new provincial helpline for women fleeing domestic violence is welcome, but missed the most critical time during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to advocates.
Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Carol Anne Haley announced on Monday a provincewide domestic violence phone line, which will go live next week.
There will be one central phone number for women to call, which will be directed to 10 provincially funded shelters throughout the province, depending on where the call is coming from in the province.
The phone line was prompted after a letter was sent to Haley, Premier Dwight Ball, Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie and New Democratic Party Leader Alison Coffin on May 12. The letter was signed by the St. John’s Status of Women Council, the Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women and Memorial University’s Gender and Politics Lab. Haley says the department got straight to work on the phone line once the letter was received.
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“Basically, I know it’s out there that this has taken 100 days. That’s not accurate. I first got this letter on May 12 requesting this line. I can tell you, I went to work on it immediately. I can tell you that I have not received a request for a phone line on domestic violence before this letter,” said Haley.
“Not once did the need for a phone line come up, with the exception of the May 12 letter. Today is June 17. It hasn’t been that long.”
On Monday, Tory Status of Women critic Helen Conway-Ottenheimer criticized the delay in establishing the line.
“Women's advocates and groups have been lobbying for a dedicated service for months — and, indeed, years — to have this resource to combat domestic violence,” Conway-Ottenheimer said Monday.
“It is very unfortunate, however, that we are three months into the COVID-19 (pandemic) and the minister is still unable to provide specific details or even the telephone number.”
The Telegram published stories featuring women’s groups calling for such a phone line on April 17, April 29 and May 5.
Laura Winters, executive director of the St. John’s Status of Women Council and one of the signatories of the letter, says the line is welcome, but other requests in the letter have so far not been responded to.
“The biggest thing we’re looking for is a gender-based analysis around what was happening both during the pandemic as well as the recovery plan coming from the province. For us, that meant engaging with partners on the ground in the community doing the work as well as women in the community — moms whose lives have been deeply impacted by what’s going on here,” Winters said.
“Really, we were trying to highlight a number of points. First and foremost, the lack of discussions that was happening about domestic violence at that time.”
The letter asks the province for an all-party task force on domestic violence, to make universal child care and a living wage of $18.85 per hour.
“Women make up 66 per cent of minimum-wage workers. A lot of the people on the front lines right now are minimum-wage workers. There really was no discussion about the fact that women make up 87 per cent of all caregivers and health staff in this province,” said Winters.
“When we talk about the pandemic and its impacts in terms of things like personal protective equipment, these are actually women's issues because of who is doing that work.”
Winters says those parts of the letter have not yet been acknowledged by the province.
The phone line will cost $6,300 to establish, with $3,500 of that being upfront costs to get the line operational. After that it will cost $3,000 a year, according to a statement from the Office of the Status of Women.
The Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador will manage the line, which will go live next week and remain in operation for the foreseeable future.
"In terms of timing, this is something we needed at the beginning of the pandemic. Women are now more able to access services because of restrictions being lifted. It would have been more timely to have this available when we were more isolated within our homes," she said.
"I think it can be a useful tool if it's done properly, if it's a number that's short and sweet like an 811 that a woman can remember in a time of crisis. Certainly that will prove accessibilty to service for domestic violence survivors across the province. I think that's one thing that was tangible that the department could take on and accomplish themselves. The other asks that we have are really bigger asks. It's about government doing things differently."
Twitter: @DavidMaherNL
